Lawyer rips Nick Saban, NIL executive order rumors in midst of landmark NCAA settlement

Fox News host Bret Baier dives into the NIL landscape in the NCAA and the debate over the league's payment rules across the country on 'Special Report.' 

A law firm involved in the historic $2.8 billion antitrust lawsuit settlement involving the NCAA and the nation’s five largest conferences ripped former college football coach Nick Saban and the possibility of an executive order from the Trump administration to deal with name, image and likeness.

Attorneys at the Hagens Berman law firm released a statement on Monday calling Saban’s reported involvement in the potential executive order "unmerited and unhelpful." Steve Berman, the firm’s managing partner and co-founder, called Saban and Trump’s talks "unneeded."

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Nick Saban speaks before President Donald Trump arrives to give a commencement address at the University of Alabama, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

"While he was a coach, Saban initially opposed NIL payments to athletes, pushing to add restrictions and red-tape through national legislation to add ‘some sort of control,’" Berman said in a statement. "During his time scrutinizing the athlete pay structure, he made tens of millions of dollars and was previously the highest-paid coach in college football.

"Coach Saban and Trump’s eleventh-hour talks of executive orders and other meddling are just more unneeded self-involvement. College athletes are spearheading historic changes and benefitting massively from NIL deals. They don’t need this unmerited interference from a coach only seeking to protect the system that made him tens of millions."

The firm added there were a number of ways college athletes have benefitted from NIL without any